Friday, 15 March 2013

IS Network - National Meeting on 13th April

Like most socialists, we have watched the recent crisis in the Socialist Workers Party with increasing concern. The behaviour of the leading bodies of the party is a significant retreat from the best elements of the International Socialist tradition. The cover-up of the now infamous “Delta Case”, the bureaucratic handling of the legitimate dissent in the organisation, the overly dogmatic approach to theoretical difference and the monolithic style of leadership practised by the Central Committee are all antithetical to the building of a democratic, socialist organisation.

It is now the case that, perhaps not surprisingly, many members will no longer feel they can continue to be members of the Socialist Workers Party. Perhaps worse, there is a very real danger that many will be lost to the movement entirely. This potential loss of good activists from the revolutionary socialist movement would be absolutely criminal, and for that the blame must lie entirely with the leadership of the party.

We believe that there is now, more than ever, a clear necessity for the living, non-conformist spirit of the International Socialist tradition, which celebrated democracy, plurality and openness. The economic crisis has not only created the opportunity for socialist organisations to root themselves within the class and labour movement, it has made the self-organisation of working class socialists on this basis absolutely imperative. We believe this can only be done on the most democratic basis, with an organisation built from the bottom up.

For these reasons, we have decided to call a meeting to discuss the way forward. This meeting is designed to discuss openly the best way to build a socialist alternative in Britain today. The purpose of this meeting is not the creation of SWP Mark II. Instead, it is an attempt to regroup those that have been understandably disgusted by the direction that the SWP has been taken in by its leadership. We particularly invite all those who have resigned from the SWP over recent events to attend.

IS Network Meeting
Saturday 13th April
Central London

This is an initial meeting for supporters of the IS Network. If you are interested in attending please contact us at internationalsocialistnetwork@gmail.com. Open meetings will be announced soon.